After hearing Luna's statement, Celestia pondered for a while. She paced around the throne room, and would occasionally stop and gazed out of the windows for a long time.

The Sun Princess was more than worried. After all that has happened, would it be wise for her to agree to Luna's idea of traveling to a war-torn world in order to destroy a lost artifact she cast away so long ago? Would it be worth the price? Maybe she should flat out refuse Luna's offer. The Spark of Life was no longer in Equestria...no longer their concern.

No. That was her own selfishness talking. No other living being should pay the price of their past misdeeds. Still, doubt gnawed at Celestia's conscience.

"Sister?" Luna called out to her. "What say you?"

"Lulu, do you not see another way?" Celestia asked, turning to face her younger sister.

Luna shook her head. "If there is any, I would not have suggested this."

"Very well. But I am not letting you go on your own. I'm coming with you," Celestia affirmed.

"No. Absolutely not. If you come with me and something happens to both of us, nopony else would be capable of rising the Sun and Moon...whilst you rule over them both. I have some other ponies in mind to accompany me."

"So, who else is here?" Edward asked as he and Reinhardt strode through the Watchpoint. Winston went to inform the base of the false alarm, while the two Crusaders headed to the armory to shed their hulking suits of power armor.

Reinhardt laughed. "You will see later. We are here."

The two stepped inside the armory, stored their Rocket Hammers, and immediately headed to the suits' docking pads. The machines quickly stripped them off their armor, and the parts were safely stored away inside their respective contraptions.

"Now let's go meet the others." Reinhardt chuckled, placing an arm over Edward's shoulder.

"Gladly."

Just as the armory's doors slid open, a girl bumped into Edward, spilling her bottle of water all over his body armor.

"I am so sorry!" the girl apologized. "Let me get something for the mess--"

"Oh no no no no, it's fine really. Waterproof material, see?" Edward pointed to his grey hexagonal-patterned suit with no sign of wetness whatsoever, in fact the water have completely dripped to the floor.

"Be more careful Brigitte," Reinhardt said. "Actually, you look awfully tired. Don't tell me you have been working all night repairing Bastion."

"I can't help myself Reinhardt, I got carried away while repairing all of those combat damages," Brigitte replied. "By the way, I am Brigitte Lindholm." She extended her hand to Edward.

"Edward Berg. Call me Edward or anything you find suitable along those lines. Nice meeting you Ms. Lindholm." Edward smiled while shaking her hand.

Brigitte chuckled. "Just call me Brigitte. There is no need to be so formal."

"Lindholm...as in Torbjörn Lindholm?" Edward inquired.

"Yes you're right! How do you know?"

"Well, lets just say I've known your papa since I was a kid. Speaking of which, where is he now?"

"Oh, he's at Winston's lab. So is everybody else."

The three talked a bit more, before going their separate ways. Edward and Reinhardt continued their trek to Winston's lab while Brigitte headed to her room.

It was not long before the two reached Winston's lab, a place where Edward had spent most of his time when he was a kid, either watching Winston and Torbjörn working on their gadgets, or having a question and answer session with ATHENA on Winston's office.

Reinhardt placed his right hand on the door's biometric scanner, opening it.

"After you." He smiled, gesturing Edward to go first.

Edward took a deep breath as he stepped inside, trying his best to not look like an idiot. However, upon seeing the faces of those he'd never thought to see again...tears flowed out from his eyes.

Captain Lightning Spear, a unicorn royal guard captain, waited patiently outside of Canterlot Castle's war room. He was the newest officer to be posted at the castle so he wondered what could possibly caused him to be summoned directly by Princess Luna herself. Although in her message she emphasized for him to be there when his shift for the day has ended;,so it must be important.

Just then, two young castle maids cantered towards him, a pegasus mare and a unicorn mare. He hoped that he would be unnoticed, but that was not the case. His electric yellow coat would be the most conspicuous in a hallway where the color composition is mostly grey and white. Coupled with the fact that he was clad in his golden armor, which brilliantly reflected the afternoon sunlight, any chances of him being stealthy flew out the window..

"Hey captain," they greeted him.

"Hello ladies," Lightning replied with a bow, causing the maids to giggle.

"How is your day?" asked the pegasus maid.

"As fine as I can be. Now, to what do I owe the pleasure? "

"We were wondering if we could steal you away for a moment?" asked the unicorn. "You won't regret it."

"I am flattered by your offer miss, but I am still on duty."

"Another time perhaps?" The pegasus asked again.

"Another time." Lightning smiled.

The two maidens took their leave, leaving Lightning to himself once again. And still, no signs of Princess Luna.

The Moon Princess also informed him that two very important ponies would be joining them in the rendezvous, adding more questions to his mind.

Albeit uncertain, his gut feeling told him that he was about to enter something big.

"Lightning?" said a familiar voice from the hallway's entrance.

Lightning turned to the voice's source, and saw his cousin Twilight standing there with a big smile on her face. He ran to her, and threw his hooves around her neck. She in turn did the same.

"It's so good to see you again!" Twilight smiled. "We haven't seen each other again since you were transferred to Manehattan three years ago."

"Ancient history that one. So, what do I call you now? Is Twily still legit ? Or is it 'Your Highness The Illustrious Egghead Princess Twilight Sparkle'?"

"Oh I miss you too. So, have you seen Princess Luna yet?"

Lightning shook his head. "But since you're here, mind telling me what this is all about?"

"I don't really know myself, but Princess Luna mentioned something about a big quest. Like, really big. In the meantime, I'd like you to meet someone. But promise me you won't do anything impulsive."

"I'm not a savage."

Twilight then stepped to the side, revealing a pony that Lightning had failed to notice while conversing with Twilight, a purple coated unicorn mare with a scar over her right eye and a broken horn.

"Lightning, this is--"

"Tempest Shadow. I've heard about you."

"Actually, it's Fizzlepop Berrytwist. Call me Fizzlepop. Captain Lightning Spear, yes?"

"Call me Lightning," he said as the two bumped their right hooves together. "It's a shame we didn't get the chance to cross blades with each other. The Storm King would not take an ordinary unicorn soldier as his lieutenant."

"And I've heard you are the Royal Guard's most skilled Spellsword. Care to find out sometime?" Tempest grinned.

"Count me in."

"Very well. Just don't get carried away while you two are at it," said a certain midnight blue alicorn behind them.

Lightning and Tempest immediately turned around and bowed before Luna who chuckled at their skittishness.

"Please, there is no need for such formalities. Now, shall we?"

The quartet entered the war-room. It was a large dome-shaped room, with white marble walls illuminated with wall-mounted magic-crystals. Multiple suits of armor were positioned neatly all over the room, surrounding a large black-hued crystal round table with Equestria's map engraved on its surface.

When they all entered the room, Lightning used his telekinesis to shut the large wooden double doors.

"Now that everypony is here, let's get down to the matter at hoof. I need the three of you to accompany me to Earth to locate and destroy the Spark of Life."

The whole room fell into silence.

"Pardon me Princess Luna, are we still talking about the mythical crystal which breathes life into everything it touches?" Tempest inquired.

"You are correct. However, it is not a myth. My sister banished it a long time ago into the horizons of space and time, but for unknown reasons, it has recently re-emerged on the humans' war-torn homeworld, Earth."

The Moon Princess paused, letting the information to sink in. Already she saw questions written on everypony's faces.

"In order to locate the Spark of Life, I have devised a tracking spell called Seek Guidance, which I will share with you should you choose to accompany me on this journey. You heard me right, you are free to choose whether to accept or decline this quest. I will not lie, the risks are great. Some of us might not come back. So if any of you want to do so, you can leave now."

Despite the massive amount of doubt pounding in their heads, the three knew Luna wasn't lying. And so, none of them left the room. But the questions were too much for them to bear.

"Pardon me, Princess Luna. We do not know much about Earth and the hazards we will run into there. I think it is necessary to bring more guards with us," Lightning proposed.

"As comforting as it may be, I want our mission to be a clandestine one. The only pony who knows about this is my sister, and now the three of you. Making a public announcement of another grave danger would stir panic for the civilians. A small team of minimum numbers and maximum sets of skill would be better suited for this kind of mission."

"Maximum sets of skill, Princess?" Asked Tempest.

"You and Captain Lightning are among our most powerful Spellswords. Earth is a dangerous place, and I doubt to find allies there. But I'd prefer to put violence as a last resort. That is where Twilight comes in. She is an excellent diplomat and negotiator. Then we will see how reasonable these humans are."

"I see, but what's our plan?" Twilight asked.

"This is going to be a simple search and destroy mission. Once I share Seek Guidance with you, we should all know the Spark's location. And after that, we will teleport directly to the spot, find the stone, destroy it, and go home. We will embark tomorrow, rendezvous at the Throne Room at 06.00 A.M, take everything necessary with you. Now, return to your homes and get some rest."

"One more question, Princess," Lightning said.

Luna nodded in approval.

"Forgive me if I sound rather straightforward, Princess, but...why are we doing this? Earth has been drenched in blood for centuries as if bloodshed is the natural cycle of life there. Why must we aid a warmongering species who would rather kill each other than to make peace?"

Twilight and Tempest shared his thoughts as well.

"Because the humans have never seen what that kind of dark sorcery could do. Should the Spark ever be used, the results would be catastrophic. We cannot let the humans pay for our past mistake. If there are no more questions, you are all dismissed."

The three bowed, and left the War Room.

When they gained a bit of distance, Lightning motioned for the mares to follow him. He ignored all inquiries from the mares until they reached a small garden with a fountain in it's center.

"Okay Lightning, why have you brought us here?" Twilight asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I just feel like something's off with the Princess's statement."

"About?"

"The reason we are going on this mission. I feel she is not telling us everything. I know, it's not my place to say so but--"

"Relax cousin, you are getting all paranoid again. Besides, there's a whole new world waiting to be explored out there. Think of the possibilities, the knowledge, the--"

"Okay, Egghead. I get it. It's just..." Lightning sighed. "Fine then, sorry if I acted like a paranoid cuckoo."

With that, they left the garden, unaware of the watching eyes above.

After the explosion of hugs, and reunion with his old friends, Edward was taken to Dr. Angela Ziegler's office at the base's medical wing for a health examination before being put to active duty.

"Angela, I told you I am fine," he grumbled as they entered Angela's office, causing the combat medic to chuckle.

"Oh Edward, still afraid of needles hmm?" she teased.

"I can hold him down if ya want to, doc."

Jesse McCree, an American with the country's signature Southern accent whose entire outfit screamed cowboy proposed with a sly smile.

"Don't you dare Jesse. I'm warning you." Edward glared.

Despite his willingness to be a bullet sponge for his friends, needles and syringes were always something ominous for him.

"Relax kid, it's just protocol. 'sides, she ain't gonna stick ya if it ain't needed." The cowboy slapped Edward's back.

Angela told him to take his seat while Jesse leaned on the door frame.

"Now hold still," Angela said while taking out her handheld medical scanner.

As she pressed the activation button, a beam of blue light scanned Edward head-to-toe. The scanner then relayed the results to ATHENA, and she declared he was perfect for active duty.

Just then, someone knocked the door to Angela's office.

"Come in!" the doctor said.

The metal sliding door slid open, and in stepped a grey cyborg ninja with a futuristic katana sheathed on it's back. It's visor was lit with a green light and so was several parts of it's body.

At first Edward thought it was an omnic, but soon he realized that it was Agent Genji Shimada.

He didn't really know him, as he was one of Blackwatch's most intimidating agent which scared Edward when he was a kid, so he tended to stay clear from his proximity. With the protruding cables, red eyes, and all...

However, Angela and her team upgraded him inside out. And thus, Edward began to interact with him, albeit not that much.

"Heya Genji." Jesse greeted him. "What brings ya here today?"

"Greetings Jesse. I think there is something wrong with my right arm sensor. I can barely feel anything with it."

Then, he shifted his sights to Edward. "Hello, Edward. It has been a long time since we last met."

"Same to you Genji." Edward shook Genji's extended right hand. "Did you feel my grip?"

"Only a little."

Angela quickly got to work on Genji's right arm with her Caduceus Staff which emitted a stream of yellow light filled with Biotics, microscopic machines capable of repairing both organics and synthetics.

"Better?" Angela cooed, kissing Genji's forehead.

"Better," The cyborg replied by cupping his newly repaired hand on Angela's cheek.

"Angela, you haven't told me everything." Edward smirked.

Before she could reply, alarms started blaring in the entire base.

Author's Note

So if any of you don't what a Lucerne hammer is, there you go.

Just imagine it like unrealistically large, with all the futuristic Crusader design, and rocket engines underneath the hammer's claw.

As for Genji's 'old appearance' compared to his 'current appearance':

Here's the old one, imagine you are a five year old kid and see this guy walking up at ya.

And here's his current canon appearance. Cool stuff right?

Again, thank you very much to XIII Hearts for editing this chapter.